Friday, May 16, 2008

I'm very pleased to announce that MetroIntelligence Real Estate Advisors has added Simmons Group Consulting to our growing roster of services for the real estate industry, in this case development management consulting. Established in 1992, The Simmons Group mission is to increase client productivity and profitability by offering cost-effective senior development management services best applied through a trusted outsourced relationship.

Founder Phil Simmons certainly knows what he's talking about -- most recently, he launched the Urban Division as Division President for John Laing Homes -- the second-largest private builder in the U.S. -- and before that was Development Officer for Archstone-Smith, AvalonBay Communities, and Watt Industries. David Gaulton, who also serves as President of the highly regarded firm of Pacific Development Services, heads up The Simmons Group's construction management operations.

I first met Phil when he was a panelist for a session I moderated at a Big Builder conference in Las Vegas, and afterwards interviewed him for an article I wrote for California Builder magazine on product development strategy. We were so impressed at MetroIntelligence with Phil's honesty, development acumen and insight that it seemed a natural fit to add development management consulting to our increasing roster of services, and look forward to working with Simmons Consulting Group on a variety of projects, both now and as the market rebounds.